Frogs
by keep-turning-the-pages
Summary: In which Francis sets all 200 frogs in the biology lab free, receives the expected punishment from both Spangler and his peers, and Stanley comes to save the day. Or, in which Stanley and Francis start to become semi-good friends.


**Alright, you guys, this is my first Malcolm in the Middle fanfiction. I've only made it through one season so far, so sorry if I've gotten the characterization wrong or information incorrect, as I haven't had much time to get used to the characters. I believe Francis is my favorite character, and so I wanted to do a little something on him and Stanley, who rubs off on me like the 'strong, silent type'. This could be seen as friendship or pre-slash, your choice. **** Be expecting more Francis soon! Enjoy! **

_Frogs_

Francis x Stanley

Francis and the other boys were all gathered up in the lounge, standing at attention as Spangler roved around and eyed each one suspiciously.

Francis resisted rolling his eyes as Spangler looked Mark up and down. He hadn't even done anything that _compared _to something he might have done back at home, so Spangler should be thanking his lucky stars.

Honestly, it _had _started out innocently enough, with just casually letting one frog out of its cage in the biology lab. It had hopped somewhere underneath a cabinet. Francis had grinned crazily, feeling the familiar rush of excitement whenever he disobeyed orders. He then looked around at the other poor frogs, destined to be cut open and examined, and began to feel guilty.

Why let one frog go, when he could let them all go? He _was_ in an empty room after all.

Let's just say things escalated from there, and that they were bound to notice the entire stock of two hundred frogs missing.

Francis held back a grin as Spangler walked up to him. He half-expected the Commandant to start sniffing the air like a bloodhound. "Wilkerson," he said gruffly. "Admit that you did this."

Francis nearly laughed. He had skipped the questioning and jumped to straight out blaming. "I'm afraid I can't, sir," he told Spangler, trying his best to keep the snark out of his voice. Some of it must have bled through, because Spangler only raised his voice in frustration.

"And why is that?" he hissed.

Francis allowed himself to smirk microscopically. It's not like Spangler could see it, with his one eye and all. "Because I didn't do it," he said. "Sir," he added hastily, nearly wincing at his mishap. Apparently, it was enough of a mistake, for Spangler turned away from him quickly to speak to the rest of the room.

"Alright, boys! Thanks to your little friend here, you get no hot water for two months! And, on top of that, you get no hot food for two weeks, because he couldn't admit he did it!"

Francis's stomach had a sudden queasy feeling. It was a harsher punishment than usual, and the other teens in the school would certainly retaliate. On him. He watched as Spangler hobbled out of the room, calling back, "You can thank him when I'm gone!"

As soon as the door slammed behind the commandant, all eyes turned to Francis. He nearly stumbled in his haste to back away.

One kid was even cracking his knuckles.

"This time's worse than the other times, so you're gonna get your _ass _kicked," one kid threatened. Another one, six or seven inches taller than Francis and about five times as big, shook his head in mock-disappointment. "All for a bunch o' frogs," he practically growled.

Francis did _not _whimper.

Stanley wasn't here to protect him this time. He was off visiting his nana, and was supposed to be back that morning. He wasn't.

The punches started to reign down on Francis. They hit his stomach, his face, and every other part off him. One kid pushed him to the ground, and all Francis could do was curl into a ball as they started kicking him. The pain was unbearable. He could hardly breathe from all the blows to his stomach and ribs.

He had just enough time to hear the door bang open and see Stanley yanking guys away from him before his eyes rolled back into his head.

x

Francis came to not too long after, blinking up at the florescent lights and registering the hard concrete beneath his back. Stanley's face swam into view, his features contorted with… was that _worry? _

Francis must be still out of it.

He squinted up at his friend, working past the blurriness around the edges of his vision. "Stanley?" he questioned. His head hurt like hell.

"Yeah," Stanley said as Francis groaned and clutched at his head. "It hurts like shit. But you're going to have to pick your ass up off the floor and walk to the dorm with me."

"Thanks for the sympathy," Francis managed to get out as Stanley gripped his hand to help him up. His vision swam again, but he blinked and all he had was a splitting headache. Stanley rolled his eyes heavenward as Francis hoisted himself up with the older teen's aid. "You must be fine if you can still muster sarcasm," he said.

Francis opened his mouth to retort, but he was hit by a wave of pain. He bent over and curled into himself, coughing. A groan escaped his lips. Stanley winced in sympathy. "C'mon, let's get to the dorm." And with that, Stanley swung Francis's arm around his neck and helped him to their room, dumping him onto his cot.

"Thanks," Francis said. Stanley walked over to his own cot and frowned at Francis as he sat down. Francis was instantly on the defensive.

"What?" he said, scowling at the older teen.

Stanley shrugged. "Just wondering what you did to make them beat you up so badly."

Francis nearly sighed in exasperation. "Spangler overreacted!" he exclaimed, flopping down on his cot dramatically, huffing at the ache in his ribs as he did so. He stared at the ceiling, frowning at an imaginary Spangler. He could feel Stanley's gaze on him. "Doesn't he always?" his friend said wisely, irritating Francis even more.

"He just gave out a horrible punishment just because I wouldn't admit to it," he hissed, turning to look at Stanley. The other teen merely raised an eyebrow. "Admit to what?"

At this, Francis smirked proudly. At least he still had one over on Spangler. "I let all the frogs in the biology lab go," he informed him.

Now both of Stanley's eyebrows were nearing his hairline. "Not the best way to go down, Francis."

Francis hoisted himself up on his elbows, ignoring the screaming pain in his abdomen. "It's animal cruelty!" he declared. "I will not just sit here as millions of frogs are killed just to be cut up and examined!"

Stanley just sighed and lay on his back. Was that a smile twitching at his lips? "At least it's a little believable."

Francis smiled and shrugged. "I can't just go around telling people that I _enjoy_ getting in trouble! They might send me to military school!" he said in mock-horror. Stanley startled him by laughing, a full-blown grin on his face.

Pride swelled in Francis's chest. He made _Stanley _laugh. The very thought alone made Francis smirk. Perhaps he could maybe, _possibly _survive Marlin.

Maybe.


End file.
